Victim: Don’t release sex offender early

ELYRIA — The victim who William Tyrone Montgomery molested has asked a county judge to deny the convicted sex offender’s request to be freed after serving roughly four months of his 1.5-year prison sentence.

“The abuse I suffered for 10 years of my life was deliberate and calculated,” the victim wrote in a letter included with court documents filed Wednesday. “The defendant admitted to at least part of what he was charged with. There was no such thing as a ‘shock probation hearing’ for me. While the actual abuse stopped when I was 18, the effects of it are deeply felt even now, and I recently celebrated my 39th birthday. I wonder if those flashbacks will ever really stop.”

Montgomery, 52, pleaded guilty in March to several counts of gross sexual imposition for molesting the victim beginning when she was 8 years old in 1983, according to court documents. He was indicted in August 2013, mere weeks before the statute of limitations would have expired.

Jack Bradley, Montgomery’s attorney, has written that his client regrets his crimes and has accepted responsibility for his actions. He also noted that once released, Montgomery will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Prosecutors have opposed the release as well, arguing that the sentence was a fraction of the time that Montgomery sexually abused his victim.

The victim wrote that Montgomery has portrayed himself as a religious man with no criminal history. She acknowledged Betleski had a hard choice to make and appreciated the decision to send her molester to prison.

“Though I wish it had been longer, I believe that some prison time is better than none,” she wrote. “He is a child molester, plain and simple. Over the past few months, I have wrestled with the fact that an 18-month prison sentence seems like a slap on the wrist in contrast to the 10 years I was abused by the defendant.”

The victim’s mother also urged Betleski to keep Montgomery incarcerated, although she referred to him only by his inmate number in her letter.

“Inmate A-653564’s request for early release is appalling, makes a mockery of the justice system, and is (a) gross waste of taxpayer time and money,” the mother wrote.

Montgomery’s case touched off a controversy earlier this year when his employer, county Clerk of Courts Ron Nabakowski, said he was unlikely to fire Montgomery following the plea hearing.

Nabakowski argued that Montgomery’s crimes had taken place years ago and that he had been a good employee. Montgomery ultimately resigned, although Nabakowski said he never asked his longtime employee to do so.

A hearing on Montgomery’s request for early release is slated for next week.